


Spring Comes

by mixthealphabet



Series: And It Grows [4]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Nalu Week, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-05
Updated: 2013-06-05
Packaged: 2017-12-14 00:17:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/830504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixthealphabet/pseuds/mixthealphabet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The blonde doesn’t think Erza meant the season.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spring Comes

_Hold on to me as we go, as we roll down this unfamiliar road. And although this wave is stringing us along, just know you're not alone. Cause I'm going to make this place your home._

"Are you ready to tell me your problem?"

Lucy Heartfilia looked up at the redheaded girl, blinking once and then twice before realizing that Erza Scarlet wasn't one to elaborate on her meanings.

"What?" Questioned the celestial mage in an unarticulated deadpan.

Her friend stared for a moment, seeming torn between sighing in exasperation or glaring at the other for her apparent obliviousness.

"You've been sitting there for an hour, frowning and mumbling without touching the cake Mirajane so kindly brought you." The blonde looked down, realizing that there was, indeed, a piece of strawberry cake sitting in front of her. "Will you vent your frustrations to me or should I be more persuasive?"

Lucy shrunk away from the ex-quip mage.

Erza was a formidable woman, of that there was no doubt. The mage rarely questioned herself, being always so sure of her abilities, of the abilities of her friends and of the motives behind their actions. Even in those things that frightened her, the redhead powered through, facing whatever it was head on. It was like this in battle and it was like this in her relationship with others.

In the same way she demanded respect, she also asked for trust.

Lucy exhaled deeply, turning more fully to Erza. She  _had_  been moping around and sharing what was confusing her might make the problem seem simpler.

"It's not a big deal, really." The girl assured, but a light blush had already taken her cheeks. "For the past… Well, for the past two months, actually…" She hesitated. "Natsu may have been crashing at my place. A-and nothing happened, of course! He just helps with the cold, b-but it's almost spring."

Lucy drummed her fingers on the counters, risking glances at Erza every few seconds, only to see that the woman had set her lips in a thin line, but made no other move to express if she approved or not of such adjustments. It was hard to define what she would condemn and what she wouldn't, for the older mage had a very strange way of being conservative.

"So you want him out?" Came the determined voice of her friend, as if she was already preparing to kick Natsu out of the apartment on Strawberry Street.

Lucy's eyes grew wide as she took held of Erza's arm, pulling her back down to her stool.

"No, that's not what I meant!" She protested.

The redhead acquiesced, sitting once again and staring at the celestial mage with curiosity. It was unusual for the girl to be so patient with their invasion of her privacy, specially when it came to Natsu and his inability to distinguish what was acceptable to do near the opposite sex.

Erza admitted that none of them was as well versed in the particularities of social behavior as Lucy. While the blonde had grown up in finishing schools, receiving the best education that money could buy, most of her guildmates had been raised in Fairy Tail, in the middle of fights and among the wildest of Magnolia. They tried, but there was a lot about life outside of the guild that they didn't understand.

Sharing things came easily to them, one of the reasons why it wasn't all that odd for Erza to accept Natsu's presence in Lucy's home.

"But you dislike our insistent attendance to your apartment." She objected, tilting her head to the side.

The other was looking down at her cake, rolling a strawberry with her fork in an anxious manner.

"I don't dislike your presence, Erza. I like having you guys around. It's the surprise part of yours visits that bother me." She chuckled softly, but it was as if her mind was focused on something else.

A breeze blew by them, bringing the scent of the magnolias that had already started to appear in the main street. Winter was finally giving place to spring and the temperatures were rising again. Soon, the rainbow sakuras would be blooming.

It was still quite cold, though. The snow had melted and the storms had long faded, but the wind continued to chill the town's inhabitants to the bone, making a somewhat interesting mix of people that went out with t-shirts and sandals, only to wrap themselves in heavy coats and scarves.

As the wind picked up, Lucy pulled her oversized sweater closer to her body.

"Is that why you don't mind that Natsu has been living in your apartment?" Erza questioned. "Because you  _know_  that he'll be there?"

"I suppose." Lucy nodded, facing down to eat a piece of cake in an attempt to hide her flaming cheeks.

"Is that why you're wearing Natsu's clothing?"

The blonde choked.

"H-How did you know?"

She hadn't expected anyone to recognize that she was using one of the dragon slayer's sweaters. After that first time that the boy had joined his best friend in her bed, a week had passed of him not wanting to leave and her not wanting him to leave before Lucy decided to ask Natsu to stay for the season.

He had grinned and exclaimed that he hadn't been planning on leaving, and Happy had brought some things for them to be more at home, like clothes and food that would go to waste if they only left it there.

The celestial mage discovered that the pink haired boy did possess other sorts of clothing, like jumpers and pants, which he used only when he was going to sleep and only in the winter. Natsu said he could normally disperse heat, but that his temperature was already higher than average and that made him feel the cold more than normal people. He could use his power to liberate even more warmth, but there was really no need to do that when he could just put a shirt on.

The whole thing had seemed so logical that it shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did.

It still didn't explain how Erza knew.

"Before you came into our lives, someone had to make sure that those two wouldn't just drown in their own filth. I used to go to their house at least once a month to make them clean up a bit. Sometimes I helped them with the laundry, hence I'm aware of whose sweater that actually is."

Under the redhead's smug gaze, Lucy staggered with her words and her blush.

"I-it was just so warm! H-he'd already left with Happy a-and my coats are already dirty and –!" But Erza interrupted, raising a hand for her to stop talking.

"There's no need to explain yourself, Lucy." The blonde pouted, unsatisfied by the twinkle in her friend's eyes. "But your problem remains unclear."

Pausing as she opened her mouth to restart her protests, the girl decided otherwise, realizing that any further objection would only serve to reaffirm whatever conclusion Erza had already come up with.

Lucy sighed in defeat.

"I was just wondering if he will stay for spring, as well." She nibbled at her lower lip, unsure if she should continue. "It's been… nice, to have someone there every day."

The celestial mage wasn't being completely sincere. Having Natsu around her was nothing new, but the small routine of waking up together and going through the list of domestic chores that had to be done were things that brightened up her day, a little. It felt like she had gained someone to share her life with.

How frightening that thought was, though.

"I'm sure he will, if you ask."

The blonde eyed the ex quip mage for a moment, before turning back to gulp down her piece of cake.

"Why can't spring be over?" She mumbled into her plate, irritated with how dependent of his presence she'd become. The sooner Natsu went home, the sooner these inadequate thoughts would go away.

By her side, Erza smirked.

"Yes, we are all aware of how much you love the…" She snorted. "The summer."

Lucy didn't look up, choosing to glare at the cake's crumbles. The blonde didn't think Erza meant the season. (1)

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Natsu means summer in japanese.
> 
> This is the second part of my fill for the Nalu Week Bonus Prompt: Summer. I never seem to write things in their correct days.
> 
> The song is Home, by Philip Philips.


End file.
